Chair Peak Climb

Chair Peak in the Alpental Valley offers several routes of varying difficulty in a surprisingly alpine setting barely one hour from Seattle. What a great day trip for anyone looking for a quick alpine outing or a solid training peak for bigger objectives later on.

Chair Peak offers several great routes to the top. We offer our Chair Peak Climb on several dates, but would love to arrange any of these climbs on a private basis for you. Please contact us at info@proguiding.com or at 425 888 6397 ext. 2 to make arrangements for a private climb.Chair Peak NE Buttress (Alpine Grade 2; 5.6): This has been a favorite with our guest for several years. The approach up the Snowlake trail and into the Chair Peak Basin is pleasant and takes about 2 hours. From the Chair Peak basin you gain the base of the NE buttress via a nice climbers trail. The acutal climb up the route starts out with the climb of low 5th class gully, is then followed by a section of scenic 3rd and 4th class scrambling to the actual "crux" of the route where the buttress steepens. This steep section we will climb head on with a few moves of mid fifth class climbing or we can traverse out into the actual east face. Either way, it feels lofty and spectacular up there. Above this section we follow easy 4th class scrambling to the top. The descent involves more 3rd and 4th class down climbing down the south face couloir, followed by several rappells the narrow and east facing chock stone couloir. This brings us back into the Chair Peak basin. It truly is a very entertaining route in its own right, but also gets used as a training route and "check off" route for larger alpine objectives like Forbidden Peak or even the Matterhorn in Switzerland. Chair Peak West Ridge (Alpine Grade 2+, 5.7): Pioneered by Pro Guiding Service owner Martin Volken and only 1 hour from Seattle, this route provides a great test piece for much more remote and classic mountains, but in a more technical, exposed and adventerous character than the NE Buttress. The approach to the route is the same as for the NE Buttress approach until you get to the base of the NE Buttress. We w then traverse accross the slabby rocks under the North Face to the obvious gully at the western edge of the North Face. This is where the route starts in earnest with 2 pitches of 5.7 to the top of the gully. From here we more or less follow the West Ridge to the summit in varying degrees of exposure, climbing difficulty and rock quality. All in all a great adventure that should test your overall alpine movement skills. Chair Peak North Face direct (Alpine Grade 2+, 5.9): This route was also pioneered by Martin Volken and offers steep climbing up surprisingly good rock the center of Chair Peaks North Face. Prior Alpine climbing and rock climbing experience are a must for this route. Chair Peak East Face direct (Alpine Grade 2, 5.6): The East Face of Chair Peak is actually the most visible face from the Alpental Parking Lot. The route cruises via steep and slabby rock directlyt to the false summit.

Pro Ski and Mountain Service is our retail specialty store. It has been located in North Bend, WA since 1999.

The past trips and courses have had a large influence on what we sell. Many of our Pro Guiding customers come on trips and courses with gear they purchased from our store. Not only do we want our clients to have the right gear for the job; we also receive direct feedback from them while they are using it in the field. Trust us - if the gear does not work - we won't sell it.

Should I tip my guide? And how much should I tip them? Although tipping is not a requirement it is considered standard practice in the guiding industry and is appreciated by our guides. We generally recommend roughly 10%-15% of your course or trip cost or flat price tip that you are comfortable with.

Related Trips

Climbing Forbidden Peak is a quintessentially North Cascadian Experience - by any route. All its classic ridge routes - the famous West Ridge, the East Ridge or the lonely North Ridge are well worth the effort and provide an unforgettable experience in a stunning setting.

Get the Gear
Our retail store Pro Ski and Mountain Service has been run successfully for over twenty years and if you get outfitted by us, we can guarantee you that you will have the right gear for your course or trip.